Office of Legal Services

Mission

To provide legal counsel to the Catholic Bishop of Chicago
and to the parishes, schools and agencies of the Archdiocese.

To supervise and coordinate overall legal services, including the use of outside
legal counsel, to meet the demand for legal assistance in contract, property,
personnel and other areas of organizational life.

Staff

William R. Kunkel, General Counsel

William R. Kunkel joined the Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Legal Services as General Counsel in November 2016. Prior to joining this office, Bill served as the Executive Vice President – Legal and General Counsel of American Equity Investment Life Holding Company from December 2012 to April 2016 and as a corporate attorney and partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP from 1984 to 2012. Bill holds a B.S. degree from Creighton University and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

Contact Bill regarding the following:

Corporate Governance & Compliance

Policy

Transactional

Patricia B. Carlson, Deputy General Counsel

Patricia B. Carlson is Deputy General Counsel. Pat joined the Office of Legal Services as the Deputy General Counsel in November 2017. Prior to joining this office, Pat was a partner in the law firm of Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella and, while working at several law firms, represented the Archdiocese of Chicago for over thirty years. She has spent her legal career primarily doing legal and tax work for not-for-profit clients. She received her A.B. from Princeton University and her J.D. from Northwestern University.

Contact Pat regarding the following:

Church/State Issues

Environmental

Intellectual Property

Trust and Estates

Tax-Exempt Status

Gary R. Ansier, Senior Counsel – Transactions

Gary Ansier is Counsel for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Prior to joining the Archdiocese's Office of Legal Services in October of 2012, Gary managed a variety of corporate, transactional and litigation matters as Senior Staff Counsel for Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. Gary received his B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School.

Pawel E. Boruch, Staff Attorney – Immigration Services

Pawel joined the Office of Legal Services in July 2005. Pawel earned his Master of Law degree from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland and LL.M. from Loyola University in Chicago. Pawel is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and admitted to the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois. He is fluent in Polish.

Contact Pawel regarding the following:

Immigration (including religious worker visas, student visas, legal permanent residency, naturalization and I-9 compliance for persons who serve the Archdiocese of Chicago or attend one of the Archdiocese of Chicago Seminaries or formation houses)

John DiJohn joined the Office of Legal Services in February 2016. Prior to joining us, John was with the firm Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn, representing public and private sector employers in all areas of labor and employment law. John received his B.A. from DePaul University and his J.D. from Chicago Kent College of Law.

Contact John regarding the following:

Employment Law

Family Law

School Law

Wage Garnishments

Olga Rojas, Counsel – Immigration Services

Olga Rojas has served as Counsel for the Archdiocese of Chicago since December 2008. Olga concentrates her practice in the area of employment based immigration. She served as a Constituent Services Aide in the Office of U.S. Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald, handling immigration issues and Hispanic Affairs. Olga is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and was formerly the Chair for the Chicago Chapter and was previously on the Board of Governors for AILA National. Olga is a graduate of DePaul University College of Law and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is fluent in Spanish.

Contact Olga regarding the following:

Immigration (including religious worker visas, student visas, legal permanent residency, naturalization and I-9 compliance for persons who serve the Archdiocese of Chicago or attend one of the Archdiocese of Chicago Seminaries or formation houses)

James G. Stathopoulos, Counsel – Litigation

Jimmy Stathopoulos has worked in the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Legal Services since 2006. Jimmy received his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Yolanda Chavez-Olaguez, Legal Secretary

Yolanda Chavez-Olaguez joined the Office of Legal Services in January 2018. Yoli provides administrative support in the area of litigation and human resources and coordinates communication between related offices.